PHO Rounds: Inequities in Alcohol Use and Harm: Differential Exposures, Vulnerability and Policy

Alcohol, a leading cause of death and disability in Canada and internationally, is causally associated with over 200 chronic and acute health harms. The high burden of alcohol-attributable harm is disproportionately experienced across population subgroups, leading to inequities in alcohol use and harm. Differential exposure and vulnerability to alcohol are two mechanisms leading to inequities in alcohol harm, for example by socioeconomic status and sex and gender. During this Rounds session, presenters will highlight emerging Canadian research examining how these concepts improve our understanding of the internationally established alcohol harm paradox, whereby individuals with lower socioeconomic status experience disproportionately greater alcohol-attributable harm than individuals with high socioeconomic status, despite similar or less alcohol use. Presenters will also highlight the importance of understanding the heterogeneous impacts of population-level alcohol policies in different subgroups, including a recent analysis of the impact of selling alcohol in grocery stores in Ontario, Canada.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe how the concepts of differential exposure and vulnerability to alcohol relate to alcohol inequities
• Explain emerging research trends related to socioeconomic inequities in alcohol use and harm in Canada
• Discuss the potential of population-level alcohol polices for reducing social inequities in alcohol harm

Presenter(s): Brendan Smith and Naomi Schwartz